Fenerbahçe edge towards Turkish title

Nobre goals
Tuncay Sanli broke the deadlock three minutes before the interval, before Brazilian striker Márcio Nobre sealed the victory with his second goal in successive weeks. Galatasaray remain in contention, however, after a 2-1 win against MKE Ankaragücü.

Galatasaray challenge
The home side looked to be coasting after opening a two-goal lead with first-half strikes from Flavio Conceiçao and Cihan Haspolatli but Adem Dursun reduced the deficit on 65 minutes and Galatasaray were forced to hold on to their narrow advantage.

Fatih hat-trick
Trabzonspor are still in mathematical contention, but would need to overcome a nine-point gap to the leaders, while overturning a goal difference that is currently 20 goals worse. Fatih Tekke scored a hat-trick after Turkish international midfielder Gökdeniz Karadeniz had made the breakthrough in a 4-2 home success against Konyaspor.

Besiktas canter
John Carew and Veysel Cihan were both on target as fourth-placed Besiktas SK won 2-0 at home to Samsunspor, while Denizlispor came from a goal down to record a 4-2 home victory against last-placed Akçaabat Sebatspor.

Eight-goal thriller
Gençlerbirligi SK completed a successful weekend for the top six as they too picked up three points, but only after recovering from going two goals down. Milan Osterc put Malatyaspor two up inside the opening 13 minutes but it proved a false dawn as the home side hit back, with five different scorers eventually helping them to a 5-3 triumph.

Relegation tussle
At the bottom, Istanbulspor AS kept alive their survival hopes with a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Sakaryaspor. The match looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw until a minute from time when two goals in as many minutes from Musassa and Bülent Bölükbasi moved Istanbulspor to within four points of safety.

Kayserispor climb
Elsewhere, Brazilian striker Jaba's first-half effort earned BB Ankaraspor a 1-0 home victory against Rizespor, while defensive midfielder Samuel Johnson scored in the last minute to hand Kayserispor a 2-1 win at Gaziantepspor and lift them out of the bottom three.